I want to better understand how the public perceives sustainability. Personally, I have mixed feelings about “sustainability”, actually the word more so than the concept. You can read about my thoughts here.
How do you feel? Please fill out the following poll (random order) to help us get a grasp on how we all define the word. Please feel free to use the comment area below as well if you have additional statements that should be considered. Thank you for your input!
I will be presenting at Rocky Mountain Green in Denver on April 13, 2012 at the Colorado Convention Center in Downtown Denver. The topic of conversation from our LEED-ND committee of USGBC Colorado is “Implementing LEED-ND for Existing Neighborhoods.” Please join us in Denver!
Rocky Mountain Green 2012: This is What Change Looks Like!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Denver, CO (January 23, 2012) – U.S. Green Building Council Colorado will host its 6th annual Rocky Mountain Green conference April 12–13, 2012 at Embassy Suites Downtown Denver. The theme this year will highlight change —at the local and national level.
“The conference is designed to help attendees grow their business, network with a targeted audience, and learn about cutting edge green building strategies,” said Patti Mason, USGBC Colorado Director of Advocacy. “We plan to top all that off with some fun as we celebrate Colorado’s recent accomplishment as the number one state for LEED certified buildings per capita.”
Rocky Mountain Green 2012 is USGBC Colorado’s annual green building conference. Twenty-four education sessions, five building tours, exciting keynote addresses, and networking opportunities draw industry leaders from across the region. Rocky Mountain Green provides professionals in the built environment the opportunity to learn from experts and keep abreast of the latest changes and happenings in green building.
The opening plenary, “Harmonizing Life, Not Compromising—Regenerating Ecosystems and the Human Spirit,” will be presented by Bill Reed, President of Integrative Design Collaborative.
For more information on Rocky Mountain Green 2012, or to register for the event, please visit http://www.rockymountaingreen.com.
Contact Patti Mason at U.S. Green Building Council Colorado if you would like to obtain a press pass to the 2012 Rocky Mountain Green conference at patti@usgbccolorado.org or by phone at 303-292-6183.
Date: April 12–13, 2012
Time: all day event Location: Embassy Suites, Colorado Convention Center, Downtown Denver More information: rockymountaingreen.com
Press Passes: Email Patti Mason at patti@usgbccolorado.org or call 303-292-6183.
The dawn of the New Year is approaching. The buzz of the New Year’s Resolution is beginning to consume the void space of the radio stations. The typical resolutions are out there – exercise more, eat less fast food, get organized, spend less money, save more money, etc. Most of us will not see these resolutions through the month of January, yet we may spend a lot of money to attempt getting there.
Too often, we make resolutions that are out of reach. An incremental approach can be taken to get to a sustainable future. I will try to provide a few resolutions that will hopefully be a gateway toward a sustainable future.
1. Make Recycling Easy: Purchase two new waste receptacles for your home kitchen. The receptacles should be different sizes. You should label the largest of the two as Recycling, and the smaller as, Landfill. For an office setting, transform your waste receptacle into a recycling receptacle and hang a small container over the side for waste. The image below appropriately shows the hierarchy of waste in an office setting.
2. Go Bagless: Instead of choosing “Paper or Plastic” or even bringing your own bag, tell the cashier ‘no thank you.’ This can be accomplished with the use of crates. Purchase a few crates, collapsible or not, and store them in your trunk. After the grocery store scans your items, simply put them back in the cart, wheel it to your vehicle and load the crates. When you get home from the store, simply carry the crates in the house rather than bags. Crates are a much more durable item than cloth bags which can rip over time (see The Cloth Shopping Bag Post).
3. Make Your Exercise Meaningful: Instead of paying to join an expensive gym, try changing your transportation habits. Walk or bicycle to the store, work, school, etc. Meaningful exercise is a powerful way to save time, money and stay healthy. A study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine in September 2008 showed that “a man of average height and weight (6 feet, 200 pounds) weighed 10 pounds less if he lived in a walkable neighborhood versus a less walkable neighborhood. A woman of average size (about 5-foot-5, 149 pounds), weighed six pounds less.”
4. Grow Your Own Food: Gardening has several benefits to people who span from the personal pocketbook to education. The garden has always been commonplace, however its popularity has increased over the past few years. Kids seems to be more excited about eating vegetables when they are involved in the process of gardening the vegetable. At a recent conference in Colorado Springs, Debra Eschmeyer of FoodCorps said that a common statement from kids involved with their gardening program is “We grew it, so we like it a lot more.”
Reduce, Reduce, Reduce: Decreasing waste, water and energy use all start with Reduction. The natural effects of the recession has been to cut back on purchasing, primarily as a means to save money. There are many things that we can purchase to be sustainable, but the easiest thing to do is to decrease the amount of items that we purchase, or choosing items that are not disposable.
Happy Sustainable New Year!
